Haulage bosses are being urged to consider redundancies only as a last resort during the recession. The Road Haulage Association (RHA) tells Motor Transport it has received high volumes of calls from members seeking advice on redundancy, but when questioned, it is often clear that no thought has been given to other options.
"There are a lot of different ideas operators can look at rather than just taking the knee-jerk reaction of making redundancies," says Geoff Dunning, RHA northern regional director and chief executive designate.
The RHA has begun holding workshops at its regional offices to discuss the various alternatives with members, such as reduced overtime, job-sharing, and four-day weeks.
"The concern, particularly in specialist areas of the industry, is that when work picks up in say six months' time, firms will struggle to recruit skilled workers as many may have left the industry," adds Dunning.
However, Eddie Anderson, MD of Aberdeen-based ARR Craib Transport, feels operators can't afford to think that far ahead. "It is about survival right now; we can't be worrying about re-employment issues when the economy picks up."
Although Anderson hasn't had to make any redundancies, he says ARR Craibis currently considering its options. "If the market continues the way it is, then it's something we will have to consider. I think a common theme among the industry is going to be a freeze on wage increases this year."
Widdowson Group says it made 25 redundancies just before Christmas, but would have had to make a lot more if it hadn't been able to redeploy staff into other areas of the business.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of HGV drivers claiming unemployment benefits in December 2008 increased 235% to 8,880, compared with 2,645 in December 2007. The number of unemployed transport and distribution managers had more than doubled to 1,190 in December 2008, compared with 555 in 2007, while storage and warehouse managers seeking benefits grew 77% to 2,370 from 1,340 in 2007.